Man who confessed to murder because of 'Passion' gets 75 years

Published: Sunday, August 15, 2004

RICHMOND (AP)  A man who said the movie "The Passion of the Christ" prompted him to confess to strangling his girlfriend has been sentenced to 75 years in prison.

The sentence delivered by a jury on Friday came after Dan Leach II told the court that one reason he confessed was because he didn't want Ashley Nicole Wilson's family to believe that she hanged herself.

The 19-year-old's death had been ruled a suicide before Leach confessed.

"I didn't want them to think that she was so troubled that she took her own life, that they shouldn't blame themselves," said Leach, who sobbed during his testimony.

Jurors began deliberating Leach's sentence after testimony in the trial came to an end late Friday afternoon. The 10-man, two-woman jury deliberated nearly five hours before deciding on a sentence later that night.

Leach must serve half of his sentence before he can be eligible for parole, the Houston Chronicle reports in its Saturday edition.

The 21-year-old Rosenberg man pleaded guilty to the murder of Wilson, which meant the jury was left to decide punishment ranging from five years to life in prison.

He has been in jail since March when he confessed to detectives, saying he was moved emotionally after seeing the film about the last hours of the life of Christ.

Leach said in his confession to police that he killed Wilson because she was pregnant with his child and he did not want to have anything to do with her.

On the stand, which Leach took against the advice of his attorneys, he added that he was also motivated to kill because he felt his family members, who are very religious, would be ashamed if they knew he had gotten a woman pregnant out of wedlock.

Wilson's Jan. 15 death had been ruled a suicide by the Harris County medical examiner's office and the case was closed until Leach showed up at the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department on March 7 and told police he had killed a young woman.

During closing arguments, assistant district attorney Greg Gilleland asked jurors to assess the maximum penalty, noting that Leach had told police he wrapped a cord around the victim's neck and kept it tight for 10 minutes.

Defense attorney Ralph Gonzalez reminded jurors that the case would still be closed if Leach had not come forward.

The trial began Wednesday with Leach standing before state District Judge Brady Elliott and pleading guilty.